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Mar 27, 2013

Pashwar Naan & Mango Red Curry

Two and a half recipes today! Because it's Spring Break, I'm off work until next Tuesday (my birthday, by the way), and I was a little bored and I wasn't quite ready to get to grading on my vacation. Also, all this past weekend, Caleb and I and the rest of the Gamers Northwest gamers have been stuck inside the house during our Epic Disney Marathon. It was super fun, but also really exhausting. I felt like recharging a little by getting some time in the kitchen with my other favorite past time.

These two recipes today can definitely be made separately, but together, they make a fabulous Asian-ish fusion meal, which I had all to myself for dinner last night. Because I'm a lonely lady and the cat doesn't eat Asian-ish fusion. My point is, I have naan and Pashwar filling for days.

Pashwar Naan

Simple bread recipe based on the Indian flat bread. This version is also stuffed with a sweet nut and fruit filling... drool.

Start with the naan dough. In a large bowl, combine warm water, brown sugar, coconut milk, and the egg. Whisk to thoroughly combine. Add salt, sprinkle yeast on the top, and add flour one cup at a time. The dough should be soft but not too sticky. Form a ball from the dough, and coat with a moderate layer of oil. Coat the inside of the bowl with oil, too. Set the dough inside and cover with a damp towel. Allow to rise for 1 hour. This is a good time to get started with the filling, if you're planning on having it. Start with shelling 3/4 cups worth of roasted (not salted) pistachios. Combine pistachios, almonds, coconut, fruit, sugar, honey, and coconut milk into a food processor and grind until you get a grainy paste. This stuff is so good, I had a hard time convincing myself I shouldn't eat it all with a spoon. This recipe makes a lot of filling, I suggest saving whatever is not used in your naan in a jar or plastic container in the refrigerator. It's really good as a little side condiment on bagels and cream cheese, a crumble top on oatmeal, on top of sandy cookies with tea... the possibilities are endless! I had a lot left over.Back to the naan dough. When the dough has risen, punch down and divide into 12-16 pieces (12 makes really big naan, 16 makes medium-sized individual naan). Form each piece into a ball, and set on wax paper or a silicone mat to rest for 30 minutes. After the second rising time, heat a large, heavy-bottomed skillet on high heat. Roll out each piece of dough. If you'd like to fill your naan with the Pashwar filling, roll your dough out into long skinny pieces first, spoon 1-2 tablespoons of the filling onto one end of the dough, and fold over the other end. Then, roll out again into a square, or, if you're very talented, a disc. If you want naan without filling, roll out each piece of dough thinly into kind of a square or disc. I decided to do half of my batch with the Pashwar filling and the other half plain.

Cook each piece individually in your skillet, heat one side at a time until it bubbles and the bubbles are toasty (no more than 30 seconds each side, typically). Keep an eye on them, they burn easily!

Got some fruit chutney? If you do, you should eat this with that. I also like plain nonfat yogurt on my naan. Tonight, I also topped it with some unbelievably good mango red curry...

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Mango Red Curry

There are a lot of flavors in this dish, and it might seem a little weird. Basically what happened was I wanted curry but I didn't want tofu or shrimp today, which is usually in my curry. So I threw a bunch of fresh (and canned) fruits in and got some darn good curry. I also added spinach because spinach goes with everything.

1/2 sweet yellow onion diced

2-3 small cloves garlic, minced

1/2 mango, cubed

1 8oz. can pineapple chunks, drained

1 tbsp red curry paste (adjust more or less to taste preference, the fruit milds out the sauce considerably)

1/3 cup light coconut milk (I used Thai Kitchen)

1 cup spinach

1/4 cup shredded coconut

Cilantro, or 2 tsp cilantro paste

Juice of 1 lime

Melt butter or margarine in a sauce pan set to low-medium heat. I used about half of a tablespoon margarine. Sautee garlic and onions in the butter until caramelized.

Raise the heat to medium-high. Add the mango cubes and pineapple, cook to caramelized. The fruit will sweat and make everything sweet and sticky, and also kind of ugly. Don't worry about ugliness, just like the awkward teenager swan, your dish will emerge beautiful and elegant at the end of the story.

When everything is syrupy and browned (not burned), add the red curry paste and coconut milk. Stir to combine, reduce heat to simmer. Add spinach and shredded coconut, continue to simmer until the spinach is wilted. Add the cilantro, stir to combine, then remove from heat to cool.

Serve this curry over rice. If you're adventurous, add cilantro or cilantro paste and the juice of 1/2 lime to your rice, fluff it, then pour curry over the rice. It's seriously crazy delicious.

Pashwar naan, mango red curry, cilantro-lime rice and some yogurt to cool it all down <3